Elizabeth Richardson, 1st Lady Cramond (1576/77 – 1651) was an English

writer A writer is a person who uses written words in different writing styles and techniques to communicate ideas. Writers produce different forms of literary art and creative writing such as novels, short stories, books, poetry, travelogues, pla ...

and

peeress The peerages in the United Kingdom are a legal system comprising both hereditary and lifetime titles, composed of various noble ranks, and forming a constituent part of the British honours system. The term ''peerage'' can be used both coll ...

George Cokayne George Edward Cokayne, (29 April 1825 – 6 August 1911), was an English genealogist and long-serving herald at the College of Arms in London, who eventually rose to the rank of Clarenceux King of Arms. He wrote such authoritative and standar ...

The Complete Peerage ''The Complete Peerage'' (full title: ''The Complete Peerage of England, Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a bord ...

, 1887–98 She is remembered for her collections of prayers.

Biography

Born Elizabeth Beaumont, she was the eldest child of Sir Thomas Beaumont (brother of

Huntingdon Beaumont Huntingdon Beaumont (c.1560–1624) was an English coal mining entrepreneur who built two of the earliest wagonways in England for trans-shipment of coal. He was less successful as a businessman and died having been imprisoned for debt. Beaumon ...

) and his wife, Catherine. On 27 November 1594 she married John Ashburnham (knighted in 1604) at

Stoughton, Leicestershire Stoughton is a village and civil parish in the Harborough district of Leicestershire. The population at the 2011 census was 351. Stoughton is east of Leicester, in countryside between two protrusions of the Leicester urban area (Thurnby to ...

, and they had ten children including

John Ashburnham (MP) John Ashburnham (1603 – 15 June 1671) was an English courtier, diplomat and politician who sat in the House of Commons at various times between 1640 and 1667. He supported the Royalist cause in the English Civil War and was an attendant on the ...

. Their daughter, Elizabeth, was the first wife of

Frederick Cornwallis, 1st Baron Cornwallis Frederick Cornwallis, 1st Baron Cornwallis (14 March 1610/1 – January 1662) was an English peer, MP and Privy Counsellor. He was Treasurer of the Household 1660–1662. He was the eldest surviving son of Sir William Cornwallis of Brome, Su ...

. Sir John's death in 1620 left the family in financial difficulty, but Lady Ashburnham was considerably influential at

court A court is any person or institution, often as a government institution, with the authority to Adjudication, adjudicate legal disputes between Party (law), parties and carry out the administration of justice in Civil law (common law), civil, C ...

due to

Mary Villiers, Countess of Buckingham Mary Villiers, Countess of Buckingham (née Beaumont; c. 1570 – 19 April 1632) is perhaps best known as the mother of the royal favourite Sir George Villiers, 1st Duke of Buckingham. She was the daughter of Anthony Beaumont of Glenfield, L ...

(mother of King James's favourite,

George Villiers, 1st Duke of Buckingham George Villiers, 1st Duke of Buckingham, 28 August 1592 – 23 August 1628), was an English courtier, statesman, and patron of the arts. He was a favourite and possibly also a lover of King James I of England. Buckingham remained at t ...

) being her cousin. She procured a

baronet A baronet ( or ; abbreviated Bart or Bt) or the female equivalent, a baronetess (, , or ; abbreviation Btss), is the holder of a baronetcy, a hereditary title awarded by the British Crown. The title of baronet is mentioned as early as the 14th ...

cy for her son-in-law, Edward Dering, in 1627 and a letter to Buckingham, that year, indicates she enjoyed the company of his wife,

Katherine Katherine, also spelled Catherine, and other variations are feminine names. They are popular in Christian countries because of their derivation from the name of one of the first Christian saints, Catherine of Alexandria. In the early Christ ...

, of Lady Carlisle and of Queen

Henrietta Maria Henrietta Maria (french: link=no, Henriette Marie; 25 November 1609 – 10 September 1669) was Queen of England, Scotland, and Ireland from her marriage to King Charles I on 13 June 1625 until Charles was executed on 30 January 1649. She wa ...

. On 14 December 1626 Lady Ashburnham married Sir Thomas Richardson (later

Lord Chief Justice of England and Wales Lord is an appellation for a person or deity who has authority, control, or power over others, acting as a master, chief, or ruler. The appellation can also denote certain persons who hold a title of the peerage in the United Kingdom, or ...

) at

St Giles in the Fields St Giles in the Fields is the Anglican parish church of the St Giles district of London. It stands within the London Borough of Camden and belongs to the Diocese of London. The church, named for St Giles the Hermit, began as a monastery an ...

. Through his influence, she was created Lady Cramond in the Peerage of Scotland, on 29 February 1628 (with a special remainder to her stepson, Thomas and the issue of his body), an event which elicited 'many gibes and pasquinades...for the amusement of

Westminster Hall The Palace of Westminster serves as the meeting place for both the House of Commons and the House of Lords, the two houses of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Informally known as the Houses of Parliament, the Palace lies on the north ban ...

'. On 9 September 1629, she was granted an annual

pension A pension (, from Latin ''pensiō'', "payment") is a fund into which a sum of money is added during an employee's employment years and from which payments are drawn to support the person's retirement from work in the form of periodic payments ...

of £300 for the duration of her life.

Works

Lady Cramond's wrote ''A Ladies Legacie to her Daughters'', a collection of poems in three parts, published in 1625, 1635, and 1645. She had originally started writing in 1606 when she wrote ''Instructions for my children or any other Christian''.

Family

Lady Cramond died in 1651 and was buried next to her first husband on 3 April that year, at

St Andrew, Holborn The Church of St Andrew, Holborn, is a Church of England church on the northwestern edge of the City of London, on Holborn within the Ward of Farringdon Without. History Roman and medieval Roman pottery was found on the site during 2001/02 ex ...

.Parish register, St Andrew's church,

Holborn Holborn ( or ) is a district in central London, which covers the south-eastern part of the London Borough of Camden and a part (St Andrew Holborn (parish), St Andrew Holborn Below the Bars) of the Wards of the City of London, Ward of Farringdon ...

, London Her stepson having died in her lifetime, her title passed to his son,

Thomas Thomas may refer to: People * List of people with given name Thomas * Thomas (name) * Thomas (surname) * Saint Thomas (disambiguation) * Thomas Aquinas (1225–1274) Italian Dominican friar, philosopher, and Doctor of the Church * Thomas the ...

. She was the grandmother

Charles Cornwallis, 2nd Baron Cornwallis Charles Cornwallis, 2nd Baron Cornwallis of Eye (1632 – 13 April 1673) was an English landowner and politician who sat in the House of Commons from 1660 to 1662 when he inherited the peerage as Baron Cornwallis. Early years Cornwallis wa ...

Notes and references

*Victoria E. Burke, ''Richardson, Elizabeth, suo jure baroness of icCramond (1576/7–1651)'',

Oxford Dictionary of National Biography The ''Dictionary of National Biography'' (''DNB'') is a standard work of reference on notable figures from British history, published since 1885. The updated ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'' (''ODNB'') was published on 23 September ...

Oxford University Press Oxford University Press (OUP) is the university press of the University of Oxford. It is the largest university press in the world, and its printing history dates back to the 1480s. Having been officially granted the legal right to print book ...

, 200
accessed 18 November 2007
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cramond, Elizabeth Richardson, 1st Lady 1570s births 1651 deaths Hereditary peeresses created by Charles I English letter writers Women letter writers Year of birth uncertain 16th-century English writers 17th-century English writers 16th-century English women writers 17th-century English women writers Lords of Parliament (pre-1707) 17th-century letter writers